As we were talking about the power of the American idea, small business, entrepreneurship and the thing we all need now — job creation — the simple question I posed to the audience of more than 1,000 leaders was, “what do you think a drug dealer is, if not an unethical entrepreneur?"

The whole idea of drug dealers, and the gangs I grew up around in Compton, California and South Central Los Angeles, actually turn my stomach. My best friend from childhood, George, was killed while hanging out with the neighborhood drug dealing thug.